Sydney has 25 kilometers of double
track underground railway consisting of 4 lines.
It extends from Erskineville to Bondi Junction, Central to the Harbour
Bridge, and Central to Central via the City Circle. The city has also
constructed an underground metro
to the airport
which uses commuter rail cars. And, there is a 1.8 km museum line.

According to Matthew Doyle, "the only underground sections of the
CityRail network are the city and eastern suburbs lines. The city
underground was specifically built for the introduction of electric
train services in Sydney. The section Central - Museum - St. James was
the first opened on 20th December 1926, about nine months after the
first electric train service in Sydney. Central - Town Hall - Wynyard
opened on 28th February 1932. The loop was created with the opening of
Circular Quay between Wynyard and St. James on 22nd January 1956."

Homebush Station

Metro Project

In 2007, an ambitious 38 km 17 station automated metro
project was
announced. It was not an extension of the existing commuter
rail system, but a true underground metro, whose 32 km tunnel would have been
the longest
in the world.
Changes in Oz's government in early 2009 curtailed the project,
morphing it to a 7 km, 5 station downtown metro, with the
future option for north and northwest expansion. In 2010, budget curtailments killed the metro project and a less expensive expansion of the light rail network is now in the late planning stages. For up to the minute
details, see Sydney Metro's home page.

Sydney's 7.2 km light rail line runs mostly on private right fo way. It
has 14 stations, including two which are billed as underground, but which in fact are surface stations with buildings built over them. Metro Light Rail
is run by Metrotransport, which also ran the soon to be dismantled 3.8 km monorail.

In 2010, a nearly 10km extension to the light rail line as part of a city "Green" initiative, was announced. The first 5.6 km of what is known as the Inner West Extension
was expected to open in 2012, but construction has yet to begin. There are also plans to extend the light rail system through the central business district and to the University of NSW.

Approved and about to begin construction is a nine station extension
from Lilyfield to Dulwich Hill. The extension is
scheduled to open in 2014. Also in the early approval stages is a line connecting the University of NSW with the central business district.